Delaware Valley Youth League was established in the summer of 2007 and has grown into an elite youth ultimate frisbee club and non-profit organization. The nationally competitive team, as well as the organization as a whole, is inclusive of all genders and age groups. 

DeVYL became a non-profit organization on Feb. 2 with the help of the DeVYL board members, especially WHS alumni and certified public accountant Kevin Lakritz. U-20 coach Anthony Nuñez said, “Becoming a nonprofit was a big step for us as an organization. It allowed us to organize a formal structure to support the growth of youth ultimate in the state. It also allows us to hire staff, create more clinics and run more events.”

DeVYL also formed a board, run by President and EIS Math Teacher Beth Melillo, to help make decisions about all things New Jersey Ultimate. 

Recently, the board has made an effort to expand ultimate frisbee across all demographics throughout the state. DeVYL player and WHS senior Luke Barry said the club was seeing more engagement from players, especially from female players. “We are working with the girls to make the sport more available to them by getting information out there and keeping players engaged.” In order to keep players engaged during this time, the club has employed multiple distance-learning programs about ultimate frisbee such as “DeVYL at a Distance.”

DeVYL’s competitive summer team competes each season at Youth Club Championships in the U-17 boys, U-20 boys and U-20 girls divisions. YCCs are the youth national championships where teams come from across the country to compete against the best youth players. The DeVYL teams have seen continued success in all divisions for the past few years with multiple final and semi-final appearances and even a national championship in 2010.

The continued success of the team has drawn in players from all over the state. Barry said he joined the summer YCC team to take his game to the next level. “I wanted to be good. I wanted to be known for being good.” 

DeVYL player and WHS senior Eric Palia said that YCCs was an awesome experience because his DeVYL teammates were people he competed against for most of the year. “There’s a lot of trash talk, but at the end of the day we are all friends.” 

DeVYL’s summer team is full of frisbee stars in professional and collegiate ranks such as New York Empire standout Marques Brownlee, star-studded coach Anthony Nuñez and former Ohio State Buckeye ultimate player Sadie Jezierski. 

DeVYL also has an indoor winter league with four co-ed divisions ranging from U-14 to adult age groups. The league plays on weekends in Metuchen and has grown exponentially over the past few years, especially on the female side. 

DeVYL’s expansion of ultimate frisbee has given more kids the opportunity to play and compete. Barry said, “Give it a shot. There is not a moment that I have regretted giving ultimate a shot.”